Playmate Katie Lohmann’s Journey Worth the Wait

Patience is certainly a virtue when it comes to describing actress/model Katie Lohmann.

When Lohmann was nine years old, she was afforded the chance to be a part of an all new “Mickey Mouse Club” television series, but parental fears closed the door on that opportunity.

“The problem was my mother didn’t have any experience with the industry, and neither did my father,” the 27-year-old Lohmann explained. “They were worried that I would make too much money at a young age, and that it would make me into an adult that wouldn’t be able to function.”

Not surprisingly, the aspiring entertainer reacted to the decision just like any other child would. “I was kicking and screaming and throwing a fit,” Lohmann recalled with laughter. “The age that I was, you can’t really say, ‘Well, I’m just going to pack my bags and leave anyway!’ ”

Finally, many years later, and at the blessing of her parents, Lohmann broke into showbiz at the age of 19 when she was named Playboy magazine’s Playmate of the Month in April 2001.

“I thought that I was missing a big break,” Lohmann recalled of her childhood. Who knows, my career could have turned out completely different. I could be in Jennifer Love Hewitt’s position now. But, you know, everything happens for a reason. I guess I was just supposed to be a nudie model!”

Instead of pouting about her missed opportunity as a child, Lohmann turned her focus to sports growing up. As a high school freshman, Lohmann made quite a name for herself on the wrestling team — the boys varsity team that is. Her spot on the team came about when the team’s 109-pounder went down with an injury.

“I was the only person who could fill in that spot, so I got to travel with the varsity team,” she said. “It was so crazy.”

Lohmann didn’t just fill in, she became a force to be reckoned with on the mat.

“I didn’t know if I would be any good at wrestling” Lohmann explained. “Obviously I’m really flexible, so if I’m wrestling a guy and he decides to put my leg behind my head, it’s not going to hurt me. It’s not like wrestling a guy and they start screaming like a baby!”

“Some of them would start laughing before we even got started,” continued Lohmann. “I’m thinking, ‘Yeah, go ahead and laugh now.’ And then they would see that I’m serious and they would get angry, because everyone was watching them of course. Then they would get really physical and start to get really competitive, and that would just push me even more.”

Lohmann concluded her freshman campaign by winning an all-girls tournament in Auburn, Wash. Her competition proved to be “cupcakes” after spending the year wrestling her male counterparts. Recalling the championship match, Lohmann said, “I actually gave the girl a bloody nose. It was great!”

Deciding that she needed to become a bit more “girly,” Lohmann retired from wrestling and spent her remaining high school years excelling in track (she still holds a record in the state of Arizona for the 4×4 relay). She is quick to credit her father, who passed away in 2005, for her athletic abilities.

“My dad was very, very athletic,” Lohmann reflected. “It was really, really great because I was living with my father at the time that I was running track in high school. He was always really proud of me when he would come out and watch me and I would win. I really enjoyed having him watch me race.”

It was soon after finishing high school that Lohmann started to pursue her lifelong dream. She landed her first job at the age of 18, appearing on the cover of American Rodder magazine.

Then, while in the midst of a trip to Disneyland with a girlfriend, Lohmann and her pal decided to pay a visit to the Playboy offices in L.A. We were like, ‘Hey, let’s go to Playboy,’ ” Lohmann remembered.

That initial test shoot went so well that Lohmann’s phone was ringing the very next day.

“They called me back and said, ‘Hey, are you still in Los Angeles?’ I said, ‘Yeah I’m still here.’ And they said, ‘Will you come in and do a full photo shoot?’ Everything just kind of happened from there.”

Literally overnight, Lohmann would go from living in Scottsdale to packing up her belongings and moving to L.A. to immediately begin shooting for Playboy. It was an easy decision she said.

“When the Playboy thing came up, I was pretty comfortable with it,” she said. “I knew that it was a great opportunity. I knew that it would close some doors, open others, and I’d have to kick the rest open. I was willing to take that chance.”

Unlike the typical Hollywood hopeful who has to wait tables or work odd jobs to make ends meet, Lohmann stepped right into a lifestyle of luxury.

Shared Lohmann, “I felt like I was really pampered for my first introduction to L.A. I didn’t have to struggle like most of the other models do. I had a job waiting for me and I had money coming in. I had friends immediately because of other models and other Playmates. I was really fortunate. I just eased into L.A. very easily.

Since she had been waiting so long for the opportunity to come along, Lohmann said she wasn’t about to do anything foolish.

“It was a really great time for me,” she said. “It was odd because I was going to all these parties. I met Madonna, and I just started meeting all these people that I admired when I was young. I think that I handled it pretty well. I didn’t get into any real party scenes or anything like that.

“I knew that I came out here for a reason,” she continued. “I came out here to try and make it in the industry and the last thing that I wanted to do was be foolish and get involved in a scene that wasn’t me. I was never much of a party girl and I wasn’t about to become one, even though I was living in Los Angeles. There were too many opportunities for me to screw it up.”

Taking advantage of the doors opened by Playboy, Lohmann eventually started to pursue her true passion — acting. While she wasn’t exactly landing her dream roles, she was thankful to just start getting her foot in the door.

“I was willing to take whatever I could get, as long as I was comfortable with it,” she said. “The stuff that I was being offered didn’t even really require me to have any knowledge of acting. It just required me to look good. I was learning the business. What better way to learn the business than to just do it, rather than sitting in some dumb class listening to some guy who didn’t make it as an actor himself?”

Once she had some acting experience under her belt and the desire for more serious roles developed, Lohmann started to take acting classes from Jason Buyer, a former senior casting coordinator for Warner Bros. Television.

“He’s a great coach, I trust him,” Lohmann said of Buyer. “He’s hard on me, which is good, because it only makes me better. As soon as things slow down a bit, I’m going to go back and take some more classes with him.”

Lohmann has two films arriving on the screen in the coming months — “7/10 Split” and “Loveshack,” a film directed by Michael Silver.

“I had a lot of fun with that,” Lohmann said of “Loveshack.” “Everyone that worked on that is so funny and so talented. I learned so much by just being on the set with all of them.”

With a number of films and television roles under her belt now, Lohmann is at a place where she is pushing hard to advance her acting career.

“Developing and growing is where I’m at right now,” Lohmann explained. “Yeah, I’ve done a lot of the T&A stuff, but name one actress who hasn’t. These days, the industry is changing so much that everyone is posing for Playboy or everyone’s doing nude scenes in films. It’s getting more and more competitive, and even the older actresses are disrobing. I just figure it’s a fair game now.

“I can honestly say that I’m still waiting for something that is recognizable enough to take me to the next level,” she continued. “There is only so much that you can do — take your acting classes, you network with people, try to go to a lot of Hollywood events like Oscar parties and movie premieres, so that you can meet people. I’m still waiting and I’m working my butt off for it.”

Lohmann keeps herself busy, picking up photo shoots every now and then in between her auditions. She still works for Playboy on occasion and says that staying busy is important to keeping the right mental state.

Shared Lohmann, “Sometimes when things are slow, that’s when you tend to go, ‘Oh gosh, what am I doing?” That’s when you think about the things you didn’t get, rather than the things you did get. That’s a problem that a lot of people have in this business — they focus too much energy on, ‘Oh, I didn’t land this, this girl did.’

“I try to focus on the things that I do land and the people who do want to interview me and the people who do want to put me in their magazines. I focus on them, and not what I didn’t get, because you will drive yourself crazy if you do that.”

Lohmann said that she already has her dream role in mind, and it’s one that would take full advantage of her athletic skills.

“I really want to play a superhero,” she admitted. “I know that sounds silly. I’d love to play Supergirl or a villain in ‘Fantastic Four.’ What I want is someone to remake ‘Supergirl.’ Why not do another ‘Supergirl’ and make it better?”

Last year, Lohmann actually turned her athletic abilities into a job as the starting quarterback for the L.A. Temptations in the Lingerie Bowl. The chance to compete again was an opportunity too great to turn down.

“That was a lot of fun,” she said. “I can throw that football like Tom Brady! I was definitely an athlete in a prior life. Since I’ve been playing competitive sports for so many years and I thrive myself on leadership skills, I thought it would be a perfect fit for me and it definitely was.”

While content to finally be knee-deep in the entertainment career that she has always dreamed of, Lohmann still laughs at the absurdity of the life that she now leads. She counts people like singer Michael Bolton among her friends now, someone that she idolized growing up.

“I’m happy for him,” Lohmann said of Bolton’s recent engagement to actress Nicolette Sheridan. “I’m glad that he finally stepped up to the plate! I didn’t think he was ever going to get married again, but he’s doing it and I’m happy for him.”

When asked to reflect back on her journey, Lohmann is quick to say that she wouldn’t change a thing.

Sometimes I sit alone and I think to myself, ‘Gosh, I can’t believe that I’m in this position.’ I live in L.A., I did the centerfold thing. Sometimes I have to step back and say, ‘Hey, I think I did OK.’ Success to me is having something to show for what you’ve done and to be able to share that with your family.

“I’m glad because I could have been really successful for a very short time. Being the kid star or whatever probably would have never worked out for me. I could already be a has been by now and that wouldn’t be fun!”